Good non ivy league physics/astronomy undergrad programs.

Ok. I'm a late bloomer into science. I'm 21 almost 22. I am about out of the military. During my high school years I didn't push myself. I stayed around a 2.8 to 3.2 GPA and top 40% of my class not high. I've changed since then and always test extremely high. I was selected for AP classes but denied it and stayed 1 year ahead of my class.

I am looking for a credible list or some guidance on top non ivy league schools with strong physics / astronomy programs
I intend on going for a Ph.D in astrophysics / particle physics (subject to change)

I've gone over this forum a little and I apologize if I have missed important threads regarding this topic already. I am at work and on my phone so its not easy to manuver the forums.

Thanks.

Also I am curious as to what's the,best way to tackle this. (Bach to phd). Get a Bach anywhere and score top 10% then transfer? Or bust my arse and try for a higher school and stay through phd?

You almost certainly won't go to the same school for your bachelors and PhD. It's not recommended; you're supposed to go somewhere else. With a 3.0-ish GPA, you should shoot for your local state universities. Many have excellent programs. You're just looking for a physics major.

Hmm Ok, I'm trying to stay out of my local state, but its not a must. (but very much implied) Though one of my state colleges is in the top 100 (90's). I am trying for a college in Japan. Nagoya, they have an international program lets people study Physics in english for a 4yr degree in Japan, while they teach Japanese through immersion programs on the side. Which I also want to learn Japanese which kills 2 birds with 1 stone.

Universitat Leipzig (Germany) offer a B.Sc degree in physics that's fully taught in English. No tuition fees; cost of living isn't very high from what I hear. It's lower than in most of Germany anyway.

The program at Nagoya is "applied physics", if I recall correctly. What this means, I think, is that your upper level courses will be geared towards more applied stuff (electronics or materials for example) and not the astro stuff you're looking at. I think you can just go to a state school in the US which has a PhD program in physics and people there doing research in astro. This means you'll probably have some astro courses to take and research opportunities in fields you're interested in. Research experience is important because then you'll know if you'd really like to do a PhD.

(just paraphrasing what others here have said; haven't started college myself)

For CA, I hear the community colleges have some cool transfer programs with the UCs. But Out-of-State tuition there would cost you more than an eye (depending on where you're selling? Okay bad joke...) and I don't know what kind of financial aid you can get.

Tuition at the SUNY and CUNY schools (New York) are relatively cheaper than elsewhere. Same for Minnesota.

This is my main goal. From there I intend to (possibly stay in Japan depending, they offer many majors / Doctoral classes in English for physics) OR come back to the US and apply for some our universities.